FOUR HIDDEN FACTORS

KEEPING YOU

SICKAn estimated 1 in 10 people

have an undiagnosed or medically

indefinable condition.

WHERE FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE FALLS SHORT

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While modern medicine offers many healing opportunities,

it is also very limited... ...especially when it comes to chronic health conditions. We have seen over a century of “germ theory” address a long list of conditions, illnesses, symptoms and diagnoses, only to see those health hurdles get higher and harder to conquer.

Despite billions of prescriptions written each year, over 50% of humanity is afflicted with chronic illness, such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, chronic infections, and persistent Lyme disease, to name a few.

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What is the Difference? Functional versus Biological Medicine

While both health modalities have huge merit, here are the key differences.

Functional Medicine focuses on testing and nutrition, which are important, but Biological Medicine seeks to INSPIRE the body’s built-in “mechanism” to heal and regulate.

Healing is literally what our bodies are designed to do, from birth until we leave this life our body seeks to heal, detoxify, and create balance. Biological medicine seeks to inspire the body’s built-in “mechanism” to heal. Patients with chronic illness can spend years and tens of thousands of dollars navigating the health system and never find answers, let alone true healing.

Biological medicine looks at the environment of the cells, the terrain inside our bodies, and what is blocking the path to healing. Paying special attention to dental health, emotions and lifestyle. Biological medicine is a customized, patient-centered model that has been utilized extensively in Europe for decades. It combines the wisdom of ancient, traditional practices with the newest tech innovations and powerful insights from practitioners and doctors who have found that by removing toxicity and blocks to healing, the body can successfully regulate and self-heal, even with the most complex conditions.

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Did you know that over 4 million Americans are suffering from chronic Lyme disease today

and over 300,000 new cases are diagnosed every year?

According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 23.5 million Americans

(more than seven percent of the population) suffer from an autoimmune disease — and the prevalence is rising.

We have successfully helped hundreds of patients who have struggled with mysterious chronic illness for years (even decades). Our patients at Immanence Health have seen, on average, 22 doctors before coming to our clinics (and some even upwards of 50 doctors!).

This is where we start with each patient.

Before taking any supplements or discussing any additional therapies we address these four hidden roadblocks to recovery from chronic illness.

There is a path to wellness.

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HIDDEN FACTOR #1

ALUMINUMSo many of the things that make our modern lives easier are also making us sick.

The connection between toxins and disease is UNDISPUTED, and, they are everywhere: food, water, air, and household products. And we are constantly uncovering new sources of toxins!

The Environmental Working Group tested blood from umbilical cords and found

an average of 287 contaminants, such as pesticides, mercury, fire retardants, and

the chemical in Teflon. These toxins are in our bodies, contaminating our blood and compromising the intricate workings of

our body systems.

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An average adult in the United States eats about 7–9 mg of

aluminum per day in their food.

We start with aluminum out of all of the heavy metals and toxicants we encounter throughout the day because it is so prevalent. From cookware to deodorant, we are surrounded by aluminum. The problem with aluminum is that it is a neurotoxin, meaning it is poisonous to our nervous system. It is very inflammatory, creating neurovascular inflammation, which in turn causes inflammation in our brains.

However aluminum gets into our bodies, through water, food, or a variety of daily products, it can do serious damage. Aluminum can accumulate in our guts, kidney, brain, and thyroid, to name a few of the hotspots. While it is a neurotoxin in the brain creating a leaky blood-brain barrier and impacting the nervous system, it can also move readily through our bodies by taking advantage of the damage done by other toxins. An example of this is glyphosate, which is a herbicide widely used on food crops. Glyphosate increases gut permeability and makes the aluminum we ingest more highly absorbed and able to travel throughout the body. Removing heavy metal toxicity from our bodies by detoxifying our homes and lives is a vital step on the path to removing blocks to healing chronic illness.

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HIDDEN SOURCES OF ALUMINUM IN YOUR HOME:

3 Drinking Water 3 Flour and Baking Powder

3 Ceramics3 Antacids

3 Buffered Aspirin 3 Cosmetics and Moisturizers

3 Toothpaste

Professor Exley looked at the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s and found that they had a statistically

significant amount of aluminum in the brain, meaning that this could be one of the key factors leading to brain degeneration and Alzheimers.

Rest assured, that there are many tools and techniques you can use and that we share with patients daily, to detox aluminum from your body. Learn more

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HIDDEN FACTOR #2

WATERTurning on the tap shouldn’t turn our bodies into pathways for chronic disease. Water can be a source of heavy metals, fluoride, chlorine, and pesticides. The water supply is purposely fluorinated to decrease tooth decay and aluminum sulfate is used in the water coagulation process to remove bacteria from the water supply. Aluminum-fluoride compounds may form in water where both aluminum and fluoride are present, which creates highly reactive neurotoxic compounds that can be linked to brain inflammation.

According to the CDC, two out of three Americans are supplied with

fluoridated tap water.

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Chlorine is also introduced to the water system to manage bacterial growth. The danger to our health is really from the process of showering in chlorinated water. Our skin, the largest body organ, softens and soaks in the chlorine as we shower and bathe. When combined with other compounds in the water, it creates chemical byproducts that can be harmful to our organs as they are dispersed throughout the body in the bloodstream.

Along with things purposely put into the water in the process of making it “healthier”, there are many naturally occurring chemicals and minerals that work their way into the water supply. These heavy metals and other elements go into the water through the soil, air and plumbing systems, including:

3 Arsenic3 Lead

3 Cadmium3 Mercury

These contaminants lead to neurological, immunity and gastrointestinal damage. The damage is rarely immediate or acute; instead, these toxins build up in our bodies over time. Heavy metals, like aluminum, lead and mercury, can also be stored in our bones. They can build up in our central nervous system and settle in our fatty tissues. These toxicants can create oxidative stress and inflammation and actually damage our cells and cell membranes. When the cells get threatened it triggers the cell danger response and really limits cell function. People can be chronically ill because that response is perpetuated and prolonged, disrupting the immune response and the endocrine system.

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HIDDEN FACTOR #3

ENERGY HYGIENEWe are built to self regulate and to heal, but we can’t do that if we don’t have the energy we need. And unfortunately, our modern world is increasingly becoming energy depleting. We are constantly being bombarded by vibrations and frequencies that are harming our bodies. Everyday seemingly benign and harmless technology is affecting our health. You couple that phenomena with the mounting daily stress and tension of the average individual, and the body itself cannot maintain the energy it needs to heal and stay healthy.

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ALWAYS IN COMMUNICATION

Our bodies are a series of interlocking networks of communication. Every cell interacts with the cells around it in bigger and bigger circles until you have the entire body working in tandem towards a solu-tion. These cells operate on the energy that they create within themselves, but as we get stressed or encounter environments that are damaging to our body, our cells produce less and less. Thus we pro-duce less and less in our lives. Our cells lose their charge, and maintaining a good energy hygiene practice is the way to get that charge back.

In order to recover, in order to have the energy we need for everything in our lives, we need to look at the source of our problems. A lack of energy is the symptom, not the cause. In order to recover from a chronic illness, we need to apply therapeutic strategies that address not only biochemistry but often biophysics as well. Disease starts when there are energetic imbalances and blocks in the energy flow within and around the body. Understanding and practicing basic energy hygiene is a powerful way to maintain and reclaim your health.

EMFS

The biological impact of our technological world is profound. These invisible fields of energy emanate from technology, disrupting our own inner energy production. EMFs affect not only the flow of energy in our bodies, but they also affect us physically.

Exposure to electromagnetic fields has a negative impact on our body’s ability to detoxify - this is a massive roadblock to healing from chronic illness. One of the most empowering things that we all can do for our health is to live a lifestyle of detoxification. While it can be hard to part ways with our electronics, the health dividends of even small changes cannot be denied. Our home environments are interconnected in some unhealthy ways.

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Mold can be a tipping point for chronic diseases. Mold is highly

sensitive to electromagnetic waves and it grows considerably faster in

high EMF environments.

HIDDEN SOURCES OF EMFS AND ELECTROSMOG IN YOUR HOME:Beyond the traditional Wi-Fi, cellphone

and computer there are a number of lesser known sources in your home including:

3 Smart Meters and Appliances3 LED Lights

3 Cordless Phones3 Dirty Electricity

SIGNS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSITIVITY3 Burning or warm sensations in the face

(similar to being sunburnt)3 Tingling or prickling sensations across the body or face3 Swelling in the mucus membranes around the

nose, ears, throat, and sinuses without obvious infections

3 Feelings of impending cold or flu symptoms that never quite arrive

3 Issues with memory-loss, concentration problems, and dizziness

3 Pains throughout the teeth and jaw3 Pains and aches throughout joints and muscles3 Extreme dryness in the skin and mucous mem-

branes, this might include dry eyes, throat and mouth

3 Palpitations in the heart or chest3 Nausea and headaches

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HIDDEN FACTOR #4

SLEEPIt may feel like we do nothing while we sleep, but our bodies are working in overdrive to heal and maintain function. Your glymphatic system is one of the most important waste clearance systems for your body. The brain uses this system to drain the toxins away while we sleep. Each night, during deep sleep, the brain shrinks 60 percent and is washed with cerebrospinal fluid, and this waste is then carried through the glymphatic system and moved into the peripheral lymph.

While this is happening the system is also bringing nutrients into the brain. This system is how our body keeps neurological degeneration and disease at bay, and is one of the most underappreciated but vital systems in our bodies.

Creating a safe sleeping environment is one of the most powerful habits you can create to support health and healing.

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Health Impact of Sleep PostureIn recent years, general awareness of the negative health impacts of sitting for extended periods of time has increased. Researchers have gone as far as to say that “sitting is the new smoking”. NASA scientist Dr. Joan Vernikos has shown that exces-

sive sitting causes many of the same problems that astronauts experience in space due to the reduced force of gravity on the human body. The deficiency in gravity from sitting can cause physical degenera-tion of the spine, muscles, and connective tissue, as well as obesity and early death. Most people, howev-er, are not aware that sleeping on a flat surface has the same negative impacts as sitting or weightless-ness in outer space. Research has shown that sleep-ing on a flat surface can cause reduced sleep quality,

migraines, Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma, sleep apnea, and strokes, among other diseases.

WHAT PART CHRONIC INFECTIONS PLAY IN THE SYSTEMChronic infections are infections that continue coming back. They can affect you multiple times, slipping past your immune responses to target specific portions of your brain over and over again. These infectious microbes pro-duce biotoxins and waste that can be poorly eliminated and accumulate in the brain, contributing to neurologi-cal diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Chronic infections also help to contribute to autoim-munity. These toxins, through molecular mimicry, can confuse your immune responses and causes gaps in the protection that your immune system is trying to provide. The attempts of the immune system to clear these infections with toxins at their root can damage tissue. This cycle of infection and inadequate immune response is a deadly force that is hard to stop once it has begun. Part of having a healthy immune system is having a healthy terrain. Supporting a healthy terrain in our bodies will strengthen the body’s resilience toward pathogens and help prevent chronic infections.

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TOXINS BUILDING IN OUR BRAINS

Neurotoxins are toxins that specifically target the nerves in our bodies. Once they reach their target they attack, and this is one of the biggest contributors to neurological disease.

Nerves are not just electric wires, they serve a number of vital purposes. One of these is axonal transport, a system that moves nutrients from the brain to the cells. The neurotoxins use this transport system to travel into cells and do major damage. Symptoms of neurological diseases like brain fog and impaired memory can start presenting almost immediately after the cells have been damaged by these toxins.

A few of the more prevalent toxins in our environment include wood preservatives, metals such as mercury, aluminum, and lead, petrochemicals, and pesticides. These are just a few of the many toxins invading our bodies, and there is evidence that all of these toxins contribute to the deterioration of brain health in various ways. While there’s no way to completely avoid them, there are things you can do to support and protect your brain and overall health.

The most important thing to know is how your immune system responds to everything it interacts with. We are all exposed to various toxins and infections daily, but not all of them end up harming us. Each person is affected differently and not all of us end up developing the same neurological diseases. The difference is in each individual immune system response. The key is to build up the resilience of your immune system and its ability to fight against infections.

Building up your immune system starts by ensuring your body’s glymphatic system is working properly. The glymphatic system helps the terrain of the brain by clearing normal metabolic waste, biotoxins and even amyloid beta from our brains each night.

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WHAT’S NEXT?Our bodies are burdened and removing these hidden roadblocks is the first step to healing.

Chronic Illness Recovery Protocol Mapping Your Environment &

Energetic Foundation for Healing

Before employing pills, supplements and protocols, at Immanence Health we give our patients the knowledge and tools to successfully navigate step-by-step protocols to detoxify and clear roadblocks to healing. Having this greater context helps us to navigate this struggle that we’re all going through as we wake up to the possibilities of better health.

LEARN MORE V

LEARN MORE V

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ABOUT DR. CHRISTINE

SCHAFFNER:

Dr. Christine Schaffner is a board-certified Naturopathic Doctor and recognized thought leader. After graduating from Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, Dr. Schaffner completed her undergraduate studies in Pre-medicine and Psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

With her diverse skill set, Dr. Schaffner seeks to improve access, outcomes, and speed of recovery for patients struggling with chronic illness, from all around the world, and combines both naturopathic and conventional therapies to develop individualized treatment plans that focus on addressing the underlying cause of complex chronic illness.

Dr. Schaffner is passionate about educating patients, as well as other practitioners, bringing the most advanced medical protocols to all, as well as creating spaces for healing and rejuvenation. Her style of practice is strongly rooted in traditional naturopathic principles, including removing toxins and establishing a strong health foundation in order to achieve optimal health.

In addition to building two world-renowned health clinics, Dr. Schaffner currently sees patients telemedically, as well as through her Immanence Health clinics in Seattle, Washington and Marin, California.

Dr. Schaffner has built partnerships with practitioners, from around the globe, committed to treating many chronic illnesses, including persistent Lyme Disease.

You can learn more about Dr. Schaffner at www.DrChristineSchaffner.com.

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At Immanence Health, we are privileged to not only be on the cutting edge of healthcare, often introducing the newest protocols for conditions

that are often considered chronic and sometimes hopeless, we are also leaders in education, helping humanity to understand the newest medical and scientific research and treatment opportunities.

At every turn, whether part of our clinic family or our online community, you are supported by

a world-class team that treats the underlying causes of complex chronic illness.

This document is for educational and informational purposes only and solely as a self-help tool for your own use. We are not providing medical, psychological, or nutrition therapy advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or

illnesses without consulting your own medical practitioner. Always seek the advice of your own medical practitioner and/or mental health provider about your specific health situation. For the full Disclaimer, please go to www.drchristineschaffner.com/disclaimer.

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